A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a blend of fibers and yarns therefrom. The yarns are useful as carpet yarns and provide carpets having an excellent overall balance of firmness, cover and luster. The term fibers as used herein means fibers in the form of either continuous filaments or staple. The term yarn as used herein means a continuous strand of fibers and includes tow. The term blend means any combination of two or more fibers. The term carpet firmness as used herein means the resistance of the carpet pile to the downward force of an object and relates to the springiness or resilience of the carpet pile. The term carpet cover as used herein means the ability of the carpet fibers of the pile to cover the backing and give the carpet body or a full appearance. The term carpet luster as used herein means the quality of shining or sparkling of the carpet fibers with reflected light.
B. Description of the Prior Art
In the production of fiber for use in carpets, it is desirable to produce fiber that will provide carpets having a pleasing appearance with respect to cover, firmness, and luster. One method of increasing carpet cover for the same carpet weight is to use trilobal fibers having a high modification ratio. However, increasing the modification ratio results in a reduction in both carpet firmness and carpet luster. A low level of carpet luster is generally considered undesirable with respect to customer preference. U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,122 describes a blend of crimped fibers for use in carpet. The blend comprises two components or groups of trilobal fibers of the same denier, one group having a modification ratio between 1.6 and 1.9 and the other group having a modification ratio between 2.2 and 2.5. While the blend of fibers provides an improved appearance when compared to carpets produced from fibers of either component of the blend, there is still room for further improvements along these lines.
The terms modification ratio (MR) and trilobal fibers as used herein have their usual art recognized meaning, such as defined in U.S. Pat. No. 2,939,201.